The trade deadline is fast approaching, and the Boston Red Sox are clearly in buy mode. With that in mind, it’s time to look at which prospects they should be looking to sell off and which prospects they should be holding on to.
That there’s no such thing as a truly untouchable player — anyone can be had for the right price. Whenever this gets brought up, someone will inevitably argue: "But what if the Red Sox were offered James Wood for Franklin Arias?" We’re being realistic here.
The trades being discussed center on Zach Neto, Hunter Goodman, CJ Abrams, and others in that range. With that in mind, which prospects should be dealt and which one should the Red Sox decline to trade?
3 Red Sox prospects who should be traded at 2026 deadline
Infielder Mikey Romero (Triple-A)
I am a huge believer in what Mikey Romero can do. He has one of the prettiest swings from the left-handed side that you’re going to find. Romero has also done wonders to add a ton of pop to his game and is now a legitimate 25-home run type power bat second baseman. There aren’t a lot of those in the game.
However, Romero plays second base and third base. The Red Sox have Caleb Durbin at third base, and they just traded for Curtis Mead (yes, Mead got hurt, but that's irrelevant). They also have Anthony Seigler, Nick Sogard, Tsung-Che Cheng, Anthony Monestario, and Brett Harris. Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are on the IL. Those are all guys that the Red Sox seem to have prioritized as MLB options ahead of Romero.
Now, Franklin Arias is in Triple-A. Meanwhile, there are rumors the team is still focused on trading for another middle infielder.
Romero simply doesn’t have anywhere to go in Boston. His swing would be a beautiful thing to see at Fenway Park. It would be fun seeing him and Mayer (childhood friends) play together. But it feels like they’re doing him a disservice by keeping him at this point. Trade him. He has value, and you’re clearly not planning on using it.
Infielder Yoeilin Cespedes (High-A)
Yoeilin Cespedes is in a similar boat to Romero but further down the minor league ladder. Cespedes was at one point one of the top prospects in the system. When he first got to Single-A from the FCL in the middle of the 2024 season, he was actually a higher-ranked prospect than Franklin Arias. However, he didn’t appear in a game for Salem in 2024 due to an injury. In that time, Arias broke out and leapfrogged him in the rankings.
Then in 2025, things got worse for Cespedes. He struggled to find his footing in Single-A. Inconsistent play and less power than advertised lowered the hype, but a bounce-back year in 2026 has brought life back to his stock. As of July 29, Cespedes is slashing .253/.314/.488 with 21 doubles, one triple, and 18 home runs in High-A. He’s driven in 56 runs, scored 55, and stolen two bases.
Cespedes is a middle infielder with fantastic power and a decent glove. He’s only 20 and already in High-A. There should be legitimate trade value. He doesn't fit with the Red Sox because the infield is too crowded. They have Arias. Mayer is here. They drafted Henry Godbout last year and Jake Schaffner this year. Cespedes has played so well that he’s probably right behind them. But then there are guys on the rise like Louis Andujar in Single-A.
And honestly, you need to trade some serious pieces if you want to make a big splash. Cespedes has played himself back into being someone teams might get very excited about.
Right-handed pitcher Blake Wehunt (Triple-A)
Blake Wehunt might be a weird one to be talking about here because he’s not some top prospect, so hear me out. Wehunt is in Triple-A now, and the Red Sox don’t have a lot of pitching depth. Therefore, it would likely be smart to keep him. However, Wehunt is a monster of a human being (6’7”, 240 lbs) with great extension.
He can hit high-90s with his fastball (the extension makes that even scarier) and has solid secondaries (great sweeper). The right-handed pitcher is having a fantastic year, which includes a 3.45 ERA and 76 strikeouts (18 walks) in 57 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Even without being a top prospect, Wehunt feels like the type of pitcher that would greatly intrigue teams. The Red Sox could absolutely sell high on Wehunt and get more than you would expect for a 25-year-old with 3 2/3 innings in Triple-A who has never sniffed top-100 prospect status.
3 Red Sox prospects who should be off limits at 2026 deadline
Outfielder/First baseman Justin Gonzales (High-A)
Let me start off by saying I’m being boring and not putting Arias or Anthony Eyanson on this list because I don’t think the Red Sox are going to trade for anyone that would even remotely make sense for me to need to put them on this list. If they are trading for the likes of Zach Neto and a team asked for either of those two, Craig Breslow would laugh so hard it would be considered bullying in a Disney movie.
Justin Gonzales is a mountain of a man, and his potential rivals his size. Listed at 6’5”, there are rumors that he’s more like 6’7”. The outfielder/first baseman has legitimate 50-home run power. He’s currently in High-A and did go through a bit of a slump but has come through the other side and is back to mashing.
The right-handed hitter is slashing .263/.379/.451 with nine doubles, two triples, and 14 home runs. He’s driven in 42 runs, scored 54, and stolen seven bases. Gonzales recently had a week that featured him hitting a monster home run, getting in a fight, getting suspended, returning from the suspension, and hitting a walk-off home run. He’s only 19 and already one of the most electric players in baseball. You just don’t get this type of power from the right side often.
Catcher Franklin Primera (Single-A)
Elite catching prospects are few and far — like, truly elite catching prospects. Ones that can frame, block the plate, throw out base runners, put the ball in play, and hit for decent power.
It’s extremely early on in Franklin Primera’s career, but the early returns seem to tell us that there’s a chance the 19-year-old could turn into that. Do you give up on it already? Here’s the thing: Primera just turned 19 last month and has been in Single-A for 16 games (he’s been incredible, by the way). Anyone who’s watched him has undoubtedly been impressed.
Single-A is still absurdly far away from the major leagues, though. The trade value of a teenager in Single-A unless they are a top-25 prospect likely isn’t going to be anything great. Primera would be better than a lottery ticket, but would not be seen as the prize of a trade. The Red Sox should never use him as a trade “enhancer,” and that’s what he would likely be at this deadline. Primera’s value will never be lower than it is right now.
Right-handed pitcher Sadbiel Delzine (Single-A)
Almost every argument we used for keeping Primera can be applied here. Sadbiel Delzine made his Single-A debut last week, and that was so much fun, wow. The right-handed pitcher is only 18 and looked like a seasoned veteran outside of some command issues.
Delzine controlled hitters by using different windups to mess with their timing. His fastball ran in on them, and he managed to dot them up a few times. Meanwhile, his breaking stuff was utter filth and created some dreadful-looking swings.
Delzine is an 18-year-old with four innings in Single-A, though. The Red Sox would be lucky to get a journeyman 28-year-old with a .243 batting average and 11 home runs for him. No thanks.
I’m all for trading prospects, but you can’t just trade prospects because it’s the deadline and you want to make trades. It has to be the right moves. Making trades because you don’t want to not make moves could mean you wasted assets that could’ve been used later for something better. Wouldn’t everyone be so happy if the Red Sox didn’t panic-trade Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III for Dustin May last year and could’ve used those two now extremely valuable assets for something at this deadline?
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